The Normality Conundrum
by ToTeaOrNotToTea
Summary: Freak and Normal were two words Harry heard often. One he was, the other he wasn't. But what did they really mean? And who could possibly explain it to him? Thus begins his quest for Normal and someone to teach him to be Normal.


The word normal has multiple meanings. There was a dictionary that resided in Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, a large heavy book that was purely ornamental and used only on occasion by a certain Dudley Dursley when he wanted to understand the big word his cousin had used to make fun of him and on one rare occasion by a certain Harry Potter. According to this book, normal meant:

1\. Conforming, adhering to a typical standard, affected, altered or immunized by experimentation, or occurring in a natural way, at a right angle, see also:Perpendicular-

Harry Potter stopped reading after that. He knew now that when Petunia Dursley wanted him to be normal she wanted him to be like everyone else in Privet Drive.

This posed a quandary. There were, after all, many residents in that severely uniform suburb. So exactly which resident of the everyone else was he to emulate?

Why the one who was most Normal, of course,Harry realised with a brilliant flash of inspiration. Thus began his search for the elusive thing called Normal.

After all, Vernon Dursley wasn't very Normal, he turned so many strange colours at so many times and he remained one of the largest men Harry had ever seen (except in those strange strange dreams with the flying motorcycle) which didn't seem very Normal. The same applied to Dudley, after all the boy, with his largeness and his domineering manner, only had Piers Polkiss who was anything like him. So he wasn't quite Normal either.

And Harry had also learnt from an innocent question posed to his kindergarten teacher, that swinging frying pans at children wasn't very Normal either, so Petunia couldn't be emulated. Considering the disapproving glances that were thrown his Aunt Petunia's way after that question had been asked, the Dursleys had been even odder, actually moving him a room of his own all while Petunia looked carefully out the window to where her neighbour was looking at her suspiciously. She was even _nice_ to him, although he couldn't quite understand why she was praising him so loudly near an open window. Wouldn't that just disturb the neighbours?

Distinctly not Normal. So what was this Normal anyway?

He looked for it in the people who lived in his street but didn't find it. Mrs Johnson seemed nice but then she stumbled every so often and hiccuped and smelled like what the nurse used to clean up his scrapes. Mrs Figg and her cats...Harry didn't know quite _why_ they were strange but they were very strange as well. The large ginger one looked at him with too much intelligence to be Normal. He used to think the Polkiss' were normal too but then Piers got caught stealing a few students' money and they began being very mean and that wasn't Normal. And so it went on until he realised everyone who lived in their little suburb of Surrey were just as Freakish as him.

Harry wasn't exactly the most trusting of kids but he wanted answers and he was too young to get them. So he decided to do what most kids would have done ages ago.

Ask an adult.

Unfortunately he had exhausted all the options of Normal adults in Surrey and found them lacking so he had to wait for someone new to come by. It took two months but finally he found a new adult.

The new librarian, Ms Honey, didn't seem all that Normal either to be honest. She remembered Harry by his name and he only had to introduce himself _once_ , she smiled at him nicely and didn't glare at him at all. She didn't even seem to realise that he was a Freak!

But she was nice and she was new. Maybe she could help him understand Normal.

Three weeks since she'd taken over the librarian's job and Harry had gone there every single day. When some students returned books late she never got mad or yelled like the old one did, when they returned the books with dog eared pages, she didn't twist their ears in punishment and just quietly explained why they shouldn't do it.

But when Harry asked her what Normal meant and why he wanted to find out, she got angry.

And _not at him!_

What a strange person!

But she reined herself in very quickly indeed and was soon just as nice and calm as she always was.

"Well Harry, that's a very complicated question you've asked. Do you know what society is?"

And Harry who had all but swallowed the dictionary answered diligently, "1. The totality of social relationships among human beings, 2. A group of huma-"

Ms Honey smiled and stopped him there, "Not the definition Harry, the meaning of society."

Harry hadn't considered that, although he really should have. That was sort of what he was looking for wasn't it, the meaning of Normal not just the definition of it.

"Well, everyone you know is sort of your society. It's the people you actually talk to and have a relationship with, see?"

"But what does that have to do with Normal?" Harry was confused.

"Ah, Normal is just a sort of expectation people have from others in their society. It doesn't mean that it's going to be fulfilled. Just because Dudley's mother expects him to be polite doesn't mean he always is, does it?"

Seeing as how Dudley was almost never polite Harry couldn't help but agree.

"So I don't need to be Normal?" Harry hoped so. It was proving to be very difficult indeed.

"That's the thing with society, it's made up of so many people and everyone has their own idea of Normal. For instance I think it's quite abnormal indeed for young Mr Polkiss to rip pages from books but he doesn't think so does he?"

"No."

"But we're both a part of your society aren't we?"

"Yes."

"So you see no one will ever be Normal!" Ms Honey said so gleefully but Harry's heart sank. He could never be Normal then. But Ms Honey had the answer to that as well.

"You can be your own Normal." She said cheerfully and slowly Harry was beginning to understand. That Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon wanted him to be normal like them but because he wasn't overweight or a bully or slow or swinging frying pans around, he wouldn't be. But then that also meant that since they all had their own rooms and didn't live in a cupboard that they weren't his normal either. "Besides, it's not very important to be Normal." Ms Honey continued.

"It's not?" Adults, Harry decided, made no sense.

"No, what's most important Harry, is that you're _Good_."

Oh, that made sense. And that he could do.

Harry Potter was going to be very, very Good.


End file.
